Children of War: War Preparations
Previous Chapter Children of War: War Preparations Delinquents With A Cause An undisclosed block of time later, and all four teams - plus Sun and Neptune - were in a study room linked to the library. But this time, they wouldn't be studying or playing games. They were assembled for a more serious purpose, which was tipped off through an accidental compromise of team RWBY. For some, if not all, it would mean further progress down the path of the unknown and bringing shady facts into the light. But for the time being, such wasn't the case. For the time being, the teams assembled - ARES, RWBY, JNPR and MKBD - were more content on casual conversation. "So, I heard you were in charge of a team of psychos, too." Anthony was saying to Mose. He was sitting with his boots propped on the table and his chair standing precariously on two legs. Beside him was the MKBD team leader, who was sitting with his arms on the table and his body hunched over a little. "What're yours like?" Although regarding him with surprise for a moment, Mose scoffed and rolled his eyes. "They're awful." He said, dragging out the word "awful" with subtle exaggeration. "I know that our test back at the Emerald Forest was supposed to emphasize the random over everything else. But I have this feeling that all of it was rigged somehow, just for the sake of testing patience. One would think sharing a room with three women as a male would be a good thing, but," He shook his head. "Clearly, those who have said that have no clue what they're talking about." Anthony cocked an eyebrow and gave a lopsided smirk. "Oh, you're bluffing. They can't be that bad?" "Do you wanna bet that?" Mose drawled, leering at a far-off Kiarra. "One of them's a wise-cracker who makes it her mission to sass the hell out of everything and everyone she meets - particularly, the ones on her team--" "And if you look to your left," Kiarra was saying to Ruby. Judging from the small smirk on her face and a glance in Mose's direction, she had overheard the conversation he was having. "You'll see my wife. She may look boyish with her hoodie and mohawk, but she's actually a very sweet woman. Just be careful, though; stay around her for too long, and she'll nag your ears off." Mose's eye twitched a little before his gaze shifted over to Bonnie. The short-haired and short-sized girl was sitting near team JNPR, her attention directed to Nora. "A spastic who's got the mind of a revolutionary and the attitude of a six-year-old..." "You just have to show me how that grenade launcher of yours works!" Bonnie was saying enthusiastically to Nora, her hands waving in excited gestures. "Not only is it a repeating type, but you can fire all six of those simultaneously? That's not just a grenade launcher at work! That's mobile artillery! You have a mobile artillery cannon that can be used at any time! That is genius!" Looking slightly perturbed, Mose rested his gaze on Delilah. The girl in question was busying herself with combing Yang's hair for any knots. "And a mechanic with an unhealthy fixation on torturing the male populace." "Just you, Mose." Delilah looked up from her work and paused for a moment to give a coy smirk in her leader's direction. She even wagged her comb in a pointing manner. "Because you're so close to my heart, all of my attention's focused solely on you. Aren't you lucky?" "The luckiest." Mose deadpanned. Delilah turned her attention to the back of Yang's head, still wearing that smirk. "I hope you never end up in my shoes, Buttercup." She said, combing her way through the length of the other girl's hair once more. "The life under a pimp ain't for the faint of heart." Mose scrunched up his mouth and turned to look directly at Anthony, a hand gesturing towards the grinning Delilah. "Do you see what I mean? They're all the reason why the next four years is going to end up with me having the biggest headache of all time." After regarding them all for a moment, Anthony raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "All right. I admit. They are that bad." "They are also the reason why I believe I've got good support when needed, however." Mose continued, folding his hands on the table. His eyes focused a little, his gaze hardening slightly. "Which brings us to the reason why we're here. Care to enlighten me as to why you've assembled this little meeting, Anthony?" Anthony's eyes widened in realization. "Oh, right, right. I almost forgot that we were here for a reason." He directed his eyes to the rest of the crew, clapping his hands a few times in order to get their attention. "All right, folks! Eyes on me! Listen up!" The conversations between members fell silent, with the attended all focusing on Anthony. "All right." Anthony took a breath to mentally prepare himself before beginning. "I'm pretty sure you all are wondering why me and my team gathered you here. I'll make it simple for you." His hand gestured towards the members of team RWBY. "Thanks to our informant Rohan, we had word that team RWBY was withholding some really interesting information. Information about a potential scouting of a certain infamous thief and an extremist Faunus rights group." "I-I wasn't acting as an informant!" Rohan defended, raising his hands up in placation. "I was just..." His gaze averted, and his tone got less defensive and more nervous. "Uh... I happened to pick up bits of the conversation we were having, got enraptured and ended up getting caught when they stumbled into me. Then I ran away...?" "That would be acting as an informant, Rohan." Elisha piped in. "Even if it was an accident." Needless to say, Anthony's words brought shock for a good majority of the ones there. "Wait a minute, are you for real?" Delilah asked, regarding team RWBY. "You were thinking of getting into the business of those guys? You must like playing with fire." "Kinda thankful that you didn't try to get us involved, to be honest." Kiarra muttered, averting her gaze away. "I was liking the peace." "You!" Bonnie declared, suddenly appearing beside Ruby. She reached out, pressing her hands against the slightly bigger girl's cheeks. It could be humorously noted that Ruby was already comparatively short, and that the top of Bonnie's head was at level with the red-cloaked girl's shoulders. "Share your secrets or you will regret it!" "I-Uh-I-!" Ruby began to stutter with alarm at the sudden interrogation. They hadn't really come up with a game plan. It was a spur of the moment on her part to sieze the opportunity. Because if she hadn't, Weiss would be determined to ensure they wouldn't. Stopping the bad guys though was something Blake was adamant on doing and she wasn't opposed to making sure she got what she wanted. Thankfully, Blake was quick to intervene on her part. "To be honest, we didn't have a plan at the moment you 'caught us in the act' as it were," Blake eloquently explained as she gestured with a few of her hands, looking to her teammates calmly to verify. "We honestly were going to start planning till everyone else decided to pile in. Now we're just wondering how we're going to do this without notifying any of the staff of Beacon, let alone operate with so many people participating." "I think it'd be most appropriate if coordinate with each other on potential actions we can take, before we decide on a task of offensive we want to use," Pyrrha suggested from across the room with her team. Smiling at Jaune she nodded to their leader. "Any thoughts on the matter, Jaune?" "I-uh...well, perhaps we should go over in research possible areas Torchwick has been hustling people. If we find out if there's a pattern to his robberies depending on the distance and travel time into consideration, we could locate his main base of operations," He suggested tentatively. "That'd work, if they stayed put," Ren openly commented with a sigh. "But given their knack of disappearing acts, I'm sure to bet they'll be hasty in their use of multiple locations. Less likely for them to be caught by authorities or on-duty Huntsmen and Huntresses." "Ah...good point." "I still think it's a good plan, regardless, Jaune." "Aw, thanks Pyrrha." "You two are cute together," Nora giggled, causing them both to frantically blush and cough with confusion. "Well," Weiss spoke up with a clearing throat motion, she smiled confidently and waved her hand about to complement her vocalized idea. "Given that Schnee Dust Company is on the forefront of Dust Distribution they should have means of tracking the robberies and inconsistencies with loading cargo. Seeing as I'm in the family, it shouldn't be hard for me to access their archives for that information." "On that note," Yang proffered with her own suggestive swag and smile as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I think Junior can be of help again. He may have some connections to Roman or the White Fang; either that or he'll know something about their deals with their new squad of killers. That should help us out narrowing down locations for our band of thieving misfits." "OH! Those are both good ideas!" Ruby squealed and clapped, clearly getting into the swing of things. Turning to look at teams ARES and MKBD, she leaned forward and asked. "What are your ideas? Got any leads? Anything, please, let us know!" At this point, Bonnie had released her hold on Ruby's cheeks and was now looking at MKBD and ARES's leader with utmost attention. Mose gave a contemplative frown, averting his gaze away from the group in thought. "Well, as far as ideas go," He said, choosing his words carefully. "I'm completely in the dark. As far as execution goes, however," He folded his hands across the table and gave a firm look to his audience. "I think it would be best if we headed to our respective locations in small groups - specifically, groups of three. In addition, for the sake of improving connection between our teams, we should form mixed units instead of staying with our own." Anthony cocked an eyebrow. "So, what? Are you saying that we should have a little bit of Ruby here, a little bit of Juniper there, and a little bit of Ares and Mockingbird here and there?" "If you really like putting it that way." Mose answered. Anthony pursed his lips, then gave a shrug of approval. "You know what? I think I can deal with that. Three of us in each area should be enough just in case something goes bad, right? Not to mention, it'll minimize our presence and keep detection to a minimum." "There has to be much more locations to scout out." Mose continued, raising a hand up to count on his fingers. "There's that club, the main outpost for S.D.C.,--" "And the ports." Rohan interrupted, his voice almost too quiet for them to hear. Eyes were cast on him, and he almost regretted speaking up. "Excuse me?" Mose inquired, looking at Rohan skeptically. Rohan took a breath. "We had an encounter with Roman, his new accomplices and several members of the White Fang." He willed himself to explain, his stance submissive. "During the battle, Elisha had been injured by a weapon that pierced through his Aura's shielding - a weapon used by the one known as "Harkin". That sort of weaponry has a very illegal reputation and has been banned in production in several countries. There are companies that still make and distribute them, smuggling them from country to country. There is a highly possible chance that weapons like that are being smuggled into Vale." "And how do you happen to know that?" Seth asked, peering at Rohan. Rohan's expression darkened. "I'd... rather not talk about it." Seth looked slightly offended at this, but gave a harsh sigh and raised his hands up in defeat. "Okay, whatever. I'm gonna figure it out sooner or later." "I have another." Elisha spoke up, cutting what would've been a much more tense atmosphere. "The White Fang has quite a strong presence in Vale, right? I'm willing to bet that they have places serving as recruitment for hopefuls, places to spread their propaganda. On top of that, there are certain places where White Fang violence has been prominent. That should should give all of us plenty of ground to cover, shouldn't it?" "If it's not," Anthony grunted. "Vale's smaller than everyone's been claiming it to be." "Man," Neptune whispered to Sun. The two were standing off to the side, with the blue-haired boy having his arms folded across his chest. "These guys know what they're doing. You'd think they're already full-in Hunters and Huntresses." "I know," Sun whispered back, a wide grin on his face as he briefly glanced at his friend. "And we're gonna be right alongside them! Isn't it great?" "Well, there you go." Anthony said, pulling his feet from the table and readjusting himself to a proper sitting position. He leaned forward, casting curious eyes on the other students. "Groups of three for each area, and a summary of the places we're gonna hit. Now, who's gonna go where?" His eyes drifted to team RWBY. "Since you all were the ones that started it, I think it'd be best if you said your piece first." Ruby thought it was a great idea. Mixing up the teams, much like how they did when they were looking for Blake, may help give them an edge in diversity. As much as she felt more comfortable with her own team given how much they've trained together, the uncomfortable feeling she had at the beginning of the last semester had almost all but vanished from her system. That in mind, she looked over at her own teammates before making her own selection. "I'd like to be with...Kiarra aaaaaaaand...hmmm," Ruby drawled out, remembering the last time before their search party at the docks. Gathering sap she remembered a particular short boy with a heart behind his harsh words. Pointing at Team Ares' mouthiest teammate, she declared with a gleeful grin. "Seth! That's who I'd like to be with! We'll hit up one of the propoganda-" "Propaganda." "-yeah, that!" She volunteered with a swing of her arm. Weiss sighed and gestured to herself, "I'll be fine on my own, given it's simply a family errand. Sorry if I go against your whole match-up scheme you got going. I'll find you guys when I get the info I'm looking for." "I'll just take Elisha and Sun with us to meet up at the rally meeting. It should be easy for us to blend in as part of their group given I know how they operate and the unlikelihood of their top leadership should be there. But if Roman is there, it's all the more reason for us to stop him there before he pulls off his next big plan," Blake initiated with a stoic expression. "I'll take my Metal Armed partner, Anthony and that dour faced Mosley over there," Yang proffered with a fist pump, grinning mischievously as she pointed at the cyan haired goggle toting man. "Hey, I'll even take Neptune to show him a good night on the town. People from out of town at least need to see the kind of joints we got available around here." Kiarra was only initially bemused. But when realizing just what that meant, she gave a small, nonchalant smile. "Well, normally I wouldn't be enthusiastic to jump in a situation like this. But with such good company, I think I'll be all right." She gave a humored glance over towards a bemused Seth, who was blinking owlishly. "What say you, cowboy? You wouldn't mind little old me tagging along, would you?" Seth - who was reeling out of the fact that someone had willingly chosen him as a partner - had to shake himself to properly respond to Kiarra. "Uh, sure!" He attempted to play it cool, folding his arms across his chest and attempting to look like he didn't care. "Not a problem. As long as neither of you get in my way, we should be all good." "We just can never stay apart, can we?" Elisha inquired dryly, giving a smirk and extending his hand out for a high-five. His palm was met by an eager Sun's, with its owner sporting an enthusiastic grin. "Heck no! You aren't getting rid of me that easy!" Sun declared. Without hesitation, he hopped over to where Blake was and held his palm out for her to high-five. Neptune had to stifle a chuckle at the sight, before he turned his attention over to Yang. He sported a rather charming grin and pointed two fingers back at Yang. "A night on the town? That's a mission I can get behind." "Don't get too comfortable." Anthony warned, cocking an eyebrow. "Things like this tend to turn hectic in the blink of an eye. So you make sure you keep an eye out, all right?" "Oh, you don't need to worry about this guy." Seth interrupted, moving over to Neptune and giving him a not-too-rough slap on the back. There was a slight noise of surprise from Neptune that was ignored. "I may have been talking with him for only a few minutes, but I've got good faith that he knows how to act cool when things get heated. He's got your back." Neptune wore a confident look on his face, folding his arms across his chest and giving a nod. "I hope so." With that being said, Anthony turned his attention back to the main group. One of his hands moved to run fingers through his hair. "That leaves team JNPR, Mose, Bonnie and Delilah left. Any one else wanna sort this out before I do?" "Since Weiss is going to be heading out by herself," Mose interjected. "The remainders will have to be split into two teams of four." He placed a hand to his chest. "I offer myself, Rohan, Nora and Ren on one team, while Pyrrha, Jaune, Bonnie and Delilah go for the other." "Wait, wait, what?" Bonnie interjected flatly, earning an annoyed stare from Mose. "Bonnie." Mose stated firmly with a slightly stern edge. "I know you have your problems, but you need to get over it. Our teams are probably going to be working with one another for probably a long time, and I'd really love it if that's not ruined just because of some trivial issues you have." For a brief second, Bonnie looked visibly wounded by the comment. But it soon gave way to a more sullen expression. She averted her gaze away, finding herself unable to speak under Mose's harsh words. Fortunately, however, Delilah came in to speak for her. "Hey, hey!" She called out, giving a rather irritated stare at Mose. She moved over, placing a hand on Bonnie's shoulder comfortingly. "There isn't any need to be so harsh about it. Besides," Her tone softened slightly as she looked down at her shorter teammate. "I'll be there to keep her focused, as will Pyrrha and Jaune. We'll be fine, honest." Mose gave a heavy sigh before giving a light nod. "I'll hold you to that." He looked out to the rest of them. "Does anyone have any objections to this?" "None whatsoever," Pyrrha twitched slightly, smiling forcefully as she suppressed any hints of nervousness of being paired up with the girl who wants her head on a pike. But, with Jaune's comforting smile aimed her way, she couldn't help but feel comfoted. Her hand snaked out to capture his, something that made him blush but did nothing to thwart the feeling of safety she felt being near him. Being alone with Bonnie on the other hand... She shuddered to think what the outcome would be. "It should be a lot of fun," Yang nodded with affirmation as she looked over to Mose with a cheeky grin. "I hope you don't mind noise, because wherever Titanium Fist and I go, a lot is usually brought up. You too sea-hair. Where we're going should help us be informed just how close to the ground Junior's ear has been when it comes to Torchwick's schemes, not to mention that mercenary band he's got with him." Weiss bemoaned at joining any of the groups. Not that she had anything personally against them, she just knew something would go awry the moment she arrived. That is, if it hadn't already descended into madness and she had to help clean up the mess in the aftermath. "This will be fun, I can tell," she'd reply with a dry tongue. "YEP-YEP!" Ruby affirmed with a giggling smile, fist pumping with eagerness. "When we bring down Torchhick-" "Torchwick." "-Torchwick and his goons down, I'm sure Ozpin will be so proud of us!" "I don't think in such a fantastical way," Blake murmured, knowing full well that the staff of Beacon would be heavily against these premature actions. Weiss made a valid point, they are students and not ready. But her urgency coupled with anxiousness outweighed the alarm that sifted in her mind. The only hope she had was that she could bring some level of closure after they make contact with the dastard crook...and his pack of killers he has in his employ. Turning to look at Sun and Elisha, she grinned with some measure of elation. "But who knows? Maybe we can at least make a satisfying dent to their plans that any punishment we receive will be worth it." Sun had pouted a little when he realized that his high-five wasn't going to be received, reluctantly lowering his hand back down. But Blake's next words perked him back up. He placed his hands on his hips and gave a short, eager nod - a parallel stance to Elisha's crossed arms and small grin offered in her direction. "That's the spirit! I knew breaking rules had a good side to it!" "As long as nothing else is broken too much," Mose muttered, closing his eyes and raising his arms in a brief shrug. "Everything will turn out great." He lightly clapped his hands together. "We'll head out in the late evening, when the majority of students have time to themselves. Be quick, be effective and play it smart at all times. We're taking a giant leap here, and every inch has to count." "And with that being said, I guess we can adjourn this little meeting." Anthony concluded, slapping his palms on the table and standing up. "Dismissed!" He personally was keeping himself on a leash. But inwardly, he couldn't wait for the time to come. After all his private work and getting nowhere, here was a chance to finally learn something about the new opposition. With a crew like this, he was bound to get plenty of information from them as well as his own endeavor. It would be one step closer, potentially dealing a hard blow to Roman and the White Fang. He could guess that he was going to get in a lot of trouble with Ozpin once this got out. But if everything went well, it would be very much worth it. "All right, Harkin," He thought to himself. "The next time we meet, you and your minions are gonna get a warm welcome from Beacon. Hope you're ready..." Word of Mouth Ruby was eager to head out to what was known as a hub for the White Fang sympathizers. In the less than stellar area of Vale City, they all took their time combing the streets and alleys to look for it. That kind of spot was hard to miss, especially when they ranted and raved on the sidewalk corner to get people to notice them. The desperate and the abused often fell prey to their pretty words and sweet promises. But in the end, the cult was just trying to scoop in as many hopefuls so they could have more able bodies added to their unofficial army. So when they were dropped off via taxi, the red highlight haired spunky leader stood on the street corner not more than a handful of meters away from the entrance. Only a single guard stood watch while the 'salesman' was an unrepentant Fox Faunus. With ears protruding from a top hat and a wicked smile he continued to look professional in front of the vacant shop with a stand of fliers on the embroidered desk. "You! Yes you! I see three fetching youths who would like to see some change occur in our fair city, and perhaps the whole world; am I right?" The Faunus, Willis Wiles, smiled candidly as he waved dismissively soon after his own question. "Of course you are. Why, such colorfully dressed individuals sport the red fire of change and progress that our own society lacks the open mind to comprehend. Please, tell Willis you'd like to side with those willing to fight the good fight and spare a small donation if not point our nearest of fellow Faunus to us. If you'd be so kind?" Ruby blinked owlishly with a simple smile. She had almost no idea what the well dressed man said. That and she knew someone who was asking for something without anything of real value in return. Her dad had shown her the lot at a young age and she could tell he was the greedy type. Still, she didn't want to cause a scene in public no matter how bad side of town it is; especially with the big burly guard who looked a lot tougher than she could peg him for. "Uh, translation?" Ruby turned to look at both Kiarra and Seth for aid, knowing their street saavy and wit would assist in her in this endeavor. "He's wanting us to pay tribute and join in his cause." Kiarra kept her voice low as she spoke to Ruby, not taking her eyes off the proclaimed Willis. Her gaze was kept carefully neutral, and her tone was kept at a casual level. "Willing to bet that the "small donation" won't be that small, either." Her gaze briefly fell on Seth as he stepped forward to the salesman. There was a slight of intrigue within his gaze and his minuscule smile as he looked the adult in the eye. "Fighting the good fight and changing the world, huh?" He pondered out loud, putting a finger to his chin thoughtfully. "Well, you sound like a guy I can put faith in. Could you tell us a little bit more? Just what kind of fight and change are we talking about here?" It was a bold-faced lie. In reality, Seth thought the man was full of shit. He grew up with the sights of such visionaries either dying long before their goal was reached, or revealing themselves to just as bad as the villains they spoke out against. The way he smiled and looked at them showed just what kind of man he really was. But these thoughts would never be spoken out loud. Right now, their job was to get in and get information. If it meant humoring the guy for a minute or two, then Seth didn't mind loaning a piece of his soul. At least, for the moment. Ruby couldn't help but nod with understanding. She had to hold back a frown and a spout of something only a serialized comic would do, but thankfully Seth intervened. Choosing to stand back with Kiarra she watched as this battle of words and wits unfolded between the two. "Why, it's so glad to see such a strapping lad come forth with such earnesty!" Willis spoke with much bravado, eagerly spreading his arms wide as he approached the young man. Wrapping one arm around his shoulders he took him fervently to the desk and opened a flier, it'd show the cut-out pictures of particular politicians and even of some military officials caught in the public eye. With dialogue that was written within a much more concise and cost effective manner, the Fox Faunus ad libbed his own speel with a toothy grin. "You see, we are under the quote and quote "peaceful times" where everyone is supposed to live in a blissful state of harmony and understanding. We, the White Fang, were supposed to represent a filled gap between two antagonized races after the last dreadful war! But you see, in that time of peace that we've all been living so diligently, we did not see the truth. "There is no peace!" He hissed, barely containing a feral snarl as he unwrapped his arm and gestured towards the closed shop they were camped in front of. "Look at this! It used to be a profitable store filled with toys for children and reasonably priced goods for all who had mere Lien in their pockets. But the catch? It was run by Faunus; thus you know the end result. Ran out of town and beaten to their wit's end, they in turn became a part of our brothers and sisters of the White Fang. With their help, we shall spread the word to not just Faunus but to the weary souls who are tired of the forced imperialism of the Four Kingdoms!" Turning about he waved his hands and continued to express himself in front of Seth, outright ignoring the two girls who were but distant memories for him, "I mean, metal warriors with no souls are now patrolling every majory city. Birds of prey with metal wings circle the sky and look down at those without any power to oppose them. Even academies meant to ward off the evil of Grimm, like Atlas, is now a part of one kingdom's own military! How audacious can you be of indoctrinating Huntsmen and Huntresses to become mindless tools of nationalist might?! "Tell me, young man, that you too are tired of such gilded cages that hold the masses with lies and empty promises holding the proverbial muzzle of might makes right to their own heads?! What say you, youth of the now!" Willis proclaimed in a passionate turnabout, pointing his hand at him with dilated pupils and spittle spewing from his mouth. Even with confidence in the salesman's phoniness, it was hard to deny those words when they had such heart in them. It had even moved Seth to shock, holding him in place as much as Willis's arm had steered him. These were words of a man who felt strongly about his desires and goals. They were the words of a man doing his hardest to seek change. The man behind those words clearly didn't fit that bill. But the fury wasn't something that could be fabricated, especially on the spot. That was something made clear to even Kiarra, who had joined Seth under the enraptured. Fortunately, Seth was more aware of how false the veil was. He mentally shook himself, giving a slight glare at Willis. "Firstly," He grumbled, slowly wiping off faint traces of spittle that had landed on his face. "I'd really like it if you kept your froth on your side of life. Secondly," He turned to the table again, grabbing a flier and opening it once more to expose the information underneath. He regarded it in a few second's worth of silence before returning attention to Willis. The second wind of words held more caution. "What happens if I - we - say that we do agree? Do we just give our little donations, or...?" During the exchange, Kiarra silently moved over to the table to grab two more fliers. She stepped back to hand one to Ruby, then opened up the remaining one for herself. She scanned over the identities. Obviously, these individuals were meant to be targets. For public shaming? For assassination? It was hard to narrow it down, but if it involved the White Fang, it couldn't be anything good. She made it a mental note to look over the flier thoroughly and discuss it with her teammates once she had the chance.